FDR Custom Enclosures designs and builds luxury pool screen enclosures in Houston and Dallas; and their surrounding areas. Watch this great 3D animation given to one of our customers showing her what her pool screen enclosure will look like on her home before it is built. Great service to our customers that we provide to them to give them!

Take precautions as the mosquito season is beginning. Zika Virus is in the United States by infected travelers; no known mosquito-caused infections. West Nile Virus, although, is much more widespread and has devastating health risks.

FDR Custom Enclosures is trying to stay up-to-date regarding these viruses. It seems that the presidential debates are more important than keeping us fellow Americans aware of the dangers caused by infected mosquitoes!

What we recently learned from a customer requesting a screen enclosure in Houston, TX.

A recent customer of ours contacted us requesting a screen room. He said that he contracted the West Nile Virus last year (2015) in Houston, TX. Not only did we think that the West Nile Virus was of no threat to the US anymore, but also were unaware of the severity of his symptoms. A year after being infected, he has been left with neurologic damage to his extremities and other significant permanent damage.

This whole time, FDR Custom Enclosures was trying to inform the citizens of Texas of the presence and spread of the Zika Virus and to protect themselves, especially pregnant women, only to learn that the West Nile Virus is alive and well in most all of United States, including Texas, and can have devastating effects to men and women alike.

“We know very little about the biology of this virus,” Jackson said. Scientists have to answer basic questions such as the rate it spreads, what the clinical complications may be and how to even distinguish it from other viruses.

With past successful vaccine trials, scientists had decades more worth of research. For instance, scientists first figured out polio was a contagious virus in 1908. The first polio vaccine trials began in 1935 and it took until 1955 to find one that was viable. Zika wasn’t identified until 1947 and then scientists only saw infections in monkeys. It wasn’t until a decade later that doctors spotted it in humans, but at the time, there was no urgency to develop a vaccine because infected humans only showed mild symptoms and only 20% of the time.

With the high rate of infection in Brazil, the Butantan Institute in San Paulo, along with two other labs connected to the Brazil health ministry, will collaborate with companies to find a vaccine. Protein Sciences, a Connecticut biopharmaceutical company, said it is working with Brazilian partners to leverage technology it used creating a flu vaccine to work on Zika.

Company President and CEO Manon Cox thinks her company could have something in human trials in six to eight weeks, but the clinical process “can take maybe three to five years.” Iowa-based NewLink Genetics Corporation, which had worked on an Ebola vaccine candidate, is using that experience to work on a Zika vaccine. And other companies may get into the mix.

The U.S. government also said it is working on two approaches, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. One is a DNA-based vaccineinvolving a newer technique that injects a piece of the viral DNA rather than a protein fragment of the virus to stimulate immunity in the person’s cells.

The other is what’s known as a “live attenuated” approach, which uses a version of the living virus that is weakened in the lab so it won’t make you sick. But even if Congress approves the extra funding, Fauci doesn’t believe your doctor will give you a Zika vaccine anytime soon. At a White House briefing on Monday he said a vaccine is “unlikely to be widely available for a few years.”

“We can predict that we would likely be in phase one trial just to determine if it’s safe and if it induces a good response probably by the end of the summer,” he said. “If it looks like it’s safe, we’ll go to the next stage.”

A person in Dallas County, Texas, has contracted the Zika virus through sexual contact with an infected person who had visited a country where an outbreak has been identified. Local health officials confirmed via the Dallas County Health and Human Services Twitter account, writing “Dallas County’s 1st case of #Zika thru sex was acquired from someone who traveled to Venezuela, confirmed case did not travel.”

Several cases of Zika virus had been confirmed across the United States, but only among people who were believed to have contracted the virus while traveling abroad in countries with active Zika virus outbreaks. The case in Dallas is the first time that experts believe a person with Zika symptoms contracted the virus within the United States.

Prior to the case in Dallas, experts did not know whether the virus could be spread through sexual contact. “Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others,” Zachary Thompson, Dallas County Health and Human Services director, said in a statement.

Experts expect the Dallas patient to recovery fully. “Only 1 out of 5 people is going to exhibit symptoms, and for most of them it’s going to be extremely mild — a little fever, a little rash, a little joint pain,” says William E. Schweizer, MD, MPH, clinical associate professor and medical director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical Center, in an interview with Yahoo Health.

Fever, joint aches, a mild skin rash, and reddened eyes (similar to pinkeye) are the key symptoms. “It’s the conjunctivitis, the red eyes, that I think is a little more unique than what you see with the flu or a cold,” Schweizer tells Yahoo Health.

“What we know about the virus so far is that it’s a mild, short-lasting virus. Some people can actually have the virus and not even realize it, or not get very sick at all,” says Angela Vassallo, MPH, MS, director of infection prevention and epidemiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, in an interview with Yahoo Health.

The symptoms can be similar to the flu, Vassallo adds. “Fever is very common, a mild and simple rash in the beginning, itchy eyes, and joint pain are the main symptoms,” she says. “What’s difficult about some of these symptoms when they initially present is that they can seem like another virus or illness.”

This blog post is in reference to “how in the world is a pool screen enclosure (or cage) built.”

This topic may not be as entertaining as “look what my cat did,” but for those interested in enclosing their swimming pool it is much more relevant than crazy cat shenanigans.

FDR Custom Enclosures, LLC just published a YouTube video titled “How My Cat Beat Trump in the Presidential Election 2016.” Not really, it is titled, “How to Build a Complex Pool Screen Enclosure Part 2.” This video was released due to overwhelming requests to include more details regarding this pool enclosure build.

Although we cannot include all of our trade secrets, we delivered a video and hopefully we answered everyone’s questions. If we didn’t, there may be a Part 3 video, narrated by cats…

Now, after looking at the photos of the houses with their pool enclosures are you now more informed that pool enclosures are for the rich folks too?

Information from Sideways Jody: The reason some people refer to pool enclosures as pool cages is that they look like bird cages. Over time, bird cage was shortened to cage. So, if you hear someone refer to a pool enclosure as a pool cage, you now know why they call it a cage. Many people in today’s times think calling it a cage is negative terminology. Maybe because a cage traps things. I have no clue.

I hope that this informational blog has helped to remove the pool enclosure stigma.

When deciding that you want an outdoor swimming pool cage enclosure or screen room, you may be considering which type of screen would best serve your needs.

This is when the fun begins!

First, choose a trusted company that makes screen. As a contractor, I only use Phifer. Their products do not come from China. Many contractors, will cut costs on screen material to pocket the profit and this leaves you, the customer, with screen that will deteriorate quickly and you will have to replace it in a short period of time. Rescreening an entire enclosure is costly if you consider that you shouldn’t have to replace the screen for 10-12 years with good screen material.

Phifer offers many screen material options. The standard Phifer screen for enclosures is an 18 x 14 heavy-duty fiberglass screen. This screen is much more durable than the screen on your home’s window screens.

Phifer also offers a screen to keep the No-See-Um insects out of your enclosure. This is a 20 x 20 mesh, which means there are 20 holes height by 20 holes wide within 1 inch of square screen. The fiberglass screening is woven with permanent glass yarn which has been coated with a protective vinyl to ensure lasting beauty, color and flexibility. This screen comes in two colors, Charcoal and Silver Gray.

Phifer PetScreen can be used in patio and porch enclosures for the lower screened sections. Here is Phifer’s selling point for this screen option: PetScreen, pet-resistant insect screening, is tear and puncture-resistant to prevent damage by dogs and cats. This screen is NOT harmful to pets. The openness factor is approximately 36% and the UV blockage is approximately 64%, as stated by the manufacturer. Phifer TuffScreen is similar to PetScreen in that it is pet and tear resistant. It is made of a heavy-duty vinyl-coated polyester insect screening.

Phifer is not the manufacturer of Super Screen. If you visit the Super Screen website, in big letters it says Lifetime Warranty. If you read the entire page, they switch up and claim a 10-year warranty. Beware!

This is Phifer’s Standard 18 x 14 screen. Remember, wire placement of 18 height and 14 width in every 1 inch of all screen panels.

Swatch example of density

This is Phifer’s No-See-Um Screen. Remember? 20 x 20. That means there is wire 20 height and 20 width in every 1 inch of all screen panels.

This is Phifer’s PetScreen. You can clearly see the density change.

The density has changed

Swatch Example of thread density

This is Phifer’s TuffScreen. Look at the density change, remember width and length of material per 1 inch.

First, make sure that your contractor is using a trusted screen company. There are cautions found throughout the Internet to beware of contractors using cheap screen from China.

Secondly, you may be enticed into upgrading your screen and that screen option may not be suitable for your type of enclosure. An enclosure needs air to be able to travel through it to enable architectural integrity of the enclosure. A screen that is too dense, may lead to enclosure failure. You may think that a Super Solar Screen would minimize the harsh Texas sun and UV exposure, but Phifer documents that this screen should not be used on pool enclosures.

As a customer, you want the screen option that you feel would be the best fit for your project. You are already investing your hard earned money into a swimming pool cage enclosure and/or patio enclosure. It is very important, though, to be a well-informed customer which will make you a confident customer.

Ask your contractor as many questions as you need to and ensure that he has your best interest in mind. Questions are free! Information is priceless!

I hope that this blog post has helped at least one curious customer understand how important screen material options are to the success of their enclosure project.